Linda Susan Milbourn

On July 13th Linda Milbourn, a well-known non-profit leader in the community, died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 65.  Linda was born on December 26, 1953 and raised in Wheaton, IL. prior to moving to California for college.  Throughout her life, she had a love for Greek mythology and reading in general, so she obtained her BA in Humanities from Dominican University in San Rafael, CA.

Linda’s first career was in commercial banking, however her true passion was garden design, so in midlife Linda went back to school to “re-pot” herself, studying landscape architecture at the University of California at Berkeley.  Prior to her move to Santa Fe in 2002, Linda was the general manager of Berkeley’s Magic Gardens, a highly acclaimed landscape design, installation, retail and wholesale nursery operation.

Once in Santa Fe, Linda became the executive director of the fledgling Santa Fe Botanical Garden, with sites in the Ortiz Mountains and Leonora Curtain Wetlands Preserve.  She had a vision that Santa Fe should have a world class botanical garden within the community that would reflect its unique plant habitat and world class art scene.  Linda worked tirelessly to make this vision a reality and in 2014 her vision became reality with the opening of the Santa Fe Botanical Garden at Museum Hill.

After serving as executive director for over 10 years, Linda moved on to work at the New Mexico Community Foundation, where as president, she continued her work in non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of her fellow New Mexicans.

To all that knew Linda, she was the eternal optimist, a unique combination of creative energy, pragmatic sensibility and thoughtful leadership.  Linda’s contributions to Santa Fe and greater New Mexico community will endure.

Linda is survived by her mother and stepfather, Joan and Dave Beckies, her brother William Holden III, her nephews Brett Holden and William Holden IV and her stepmother Gloria Holden.

A private memorial service will be held at a later date.

In Lieu of flowers, Linda has requested that donations be made to The Food Depot-Northern New Mexico’s food bank.

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